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Title: Americans have a duty to question government
Source:
www.registerguard.com
URL Source: http://www.registerguard.com/news/2 ... an.0919.p1.php?section=opinion
Published: Sep 19, 2006
Author: Kris Millegan
Post Date: 2006-09-19 17:46:40 by Ferret Mike
Keywords: None
Views: 189
Comments: 7
The Register-Guard's Sept. 11 editorial about folks questioning the official history of Sept. 11 was headlined "The unbelievers." When did the story of Sept. 11 become a religious one, requiring belief? It is healthy to question an official story that has been used as the constant drumbeat to unconstitutionally unleash the dogs of war and initiate secret and open repression at home, all the while accompanied by a barrage of mistruth, mistakes and misdeeds from a tenuously elected administration. That there are those who question the official story at least shows that our republic may yet still have some life in it, and that because of such dissent, someday, we may actually have an understanding of what happened on that fateful day. For as Albert Einstein said, "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." As one who has prevailed in U.S. District Court in a case pitting an official story against what really happened, and as a son of a repentant CIA branch chief, I can say with some conviction that the official story is not always what it's cracked up to be. Many times the official story may be easier for us to understand, easier for us to digest, easier for us to believe - but that does not make it true. And we, as a people - the people of whom Abraham Lincoln said, "... you cannot fool all of the people all of the time" - have a right and duty to question the official story. Not to be simply ignored or derided and marginalized as "nuts" and "conspiracy theorists." Time has shown that many official versions of historical events have been exposed to be falsehoods. Some have even been used as casus belli: the explosive sinking of the USS Maine, whose "Remember the Maine" became the rallying cry for the Spanish-American War; the infamous Gulf of Tonkin incident that sparked the Vietnam War; the false congressional testimony about Iraqis snatching babies from incubators in Kuwait during the run-up to the first gulf war; and the non-existent weapons of mass destruction of our current fiasco. The official "history" of Sept. 11 is, itself, a conspiracy theory, with several competing official versions, including the politically contrived 9/11 Commission Report. Sept. 11 has been waved like the proverbial bloody shirt, compelling our compassion, demanding unwavering obedience, spreading unnerving terror - and decimating our democratic checks and balances. As President Woodrow Wilson said, "No one who has read official documents needs to be told how easy it is to conceal the essential truth... ." And as he also noted, "... all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the world - no longer a government of free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men... ." And that domination has seemingly become much worse in the 80-plus years since those words were penned. In sociology, there is current research into a human behavior called "elite deviance" which posits that there are elites who see themselves as above the law. From "Elite Deviance," by David Simon: "Because of the Vietnam conflict, Watergate, the Iran/Contra scandal, the S&L bailout, and numerous recent incidents involving corporate and governmental wrongdoings, elite deviance has become a major public concern. Closer examination reveals that the deviant acts of economic and political elites are not random events. They are related to the very structure of wealth and power in the United States and to the processes that maintain such structures. "Moreover, aside from being illegal or unethical, elite deviance has several basic characteristics: "1) It occurs because it furthers the goals of economic and political organizations - namely, the maintenance or increase of profit and/or power. "2) It is committed with the support of the elites who head such organizations. Such support may be open and active, or covert and implied. "3) It may be committed either by elites and/or employees acting on their behalf." With billions of taxpayers' dollars currently being spent on black operations such as the Defense Department's Proactive and Preemptive Operations Group (P2OG), where covert operations using Special Forces and psychological warfare experts are designed to "stimulate reactions" from terrorist groups, which could then lead to a "counterattack" by the U.S. military, there are many reasons to question the "day America changed." Are not our liberty, freedom and children's future worth a few questions? Kris Millegan of Walterville is publisher of TrineDay.
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#1. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
Time has shown that many official versions of historical events have been exposed to be falsehoods. and how many times must one be lied to before he stops LISTENING?
Are not our liberty, freedom and children's future worth a few questions? F Mike, I'm almost to the point of thinking questions ain't gonna do it anymore. I feel like an unfortunate extra in a cheap southern remake of V for Vendetta or Orwell's 1984. Maybe it's time for more than just asking questions...
the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal bread.
Maybe it's time for more than just asking questions..." I understand. An analogy to this feeling of yours' is how I would castigate myself for taking the easy and comfortable route and not contested tree take downs in town. I had done many shifts in the trees in the forest on timber sales, but I knew some trees taken down because of bad planning, B.S. reasons, and had done a brief occupation of forty large trees cut down for a development that has never reached occupancy with parking for Symantec which moved to Springfield eight months later. Several of us had been pepper sprayed, pulled on, Dutch ribbed, punchs and hair pulled in the "authorized" way and I was angry along with a crowd of angry people who were part of the biggest story in 1997 in Eugene, the Broadway Place tree riot. I started doing it on my own with a crew of seasoned ground people and let me tell you, a city sit is terrifying. You are low and have to do press contact all day long. You are at people's tender mercies and I have had things thrown at me and been sprayed with water from a hose from the yard of a city museum on a very cold spring day. It is boring, uncomfortable, stressful as you wonder how long it is going to last and the outcome of it all a deep and abiding worry. You are also all too conscious as to how formidable the forces against you are, how they are the ones with the time advantage, and you spend time wondering if you are doing the right thing. Compared to the feeling of not doing nothing though, all this is preferable. I still agonize over missed opportunities to save trees that could have been saved, and to kinesthetically show people in town what they usually only read about in the paper or watch on TV as people do forest protection in the woods. I have peace of mind about those battles I took on. I saved some trees and lost others. I improved the policies of the Urban Forest Department in town and I am very good friends with all of them as I do non-violent civil disobedience the right way; where I communicate with my adversary and treat them with human respect. This would be a better country if people would stop siting on their fat rumps complaining about things as they are entertained as they expect to be as they watch movies, TV, talk on the phone or listen to music. If they collectively got up and did something, all the little pieces of what people did would add up enough so the formability of the powers that be would be far less intimidating. They try to hide the fact that they are move vulnerable to being made accountable and responsive then people know. They are good at putting up a mask and front to keep people off their backs and sitting there, always expecting to be entertained; always sure that all they can do is moan and gripe and wish things were better. People should start reading more, going to public meetings and networking with other people and formulating actions. If enough things were happening all over the place, the collective weight of that would have profound effects. Actions encourage others to act, especially if their is a latent force of anger and deep seated resentment floating about in the air like so much vaporized gasoline waiting for a spark plug to come along and ignite it. If you did do something, no matter how small, or whether it was successful or not, you would feel good about yourself. It does give peace of mind to know you are doing something. I actually heard someone who didn't know I was in earshot say, "yes, he can be too intense and annoying for my taste,but he is a spark plug and he does make things happen." I also moved a large tree once and I am the whistle blower that uncovered partition gatherer fraud in Oregon when Republican money was trying to get Nader on the ballot to hopefully split the vote enough to give Bush Oregon. Many people had seen it going on, but I was the one who documented it, investigated it, and then got the information to the right folks to do something about it. So it isn't like all I do is sit in a tree daring them to get me down. I encourage you to look about and to see what you can do to make this place a better place to live in. I encourage everyone and anybody to stop doing the modern American game of waiting to be entertained and doing discomfort and stress avoidance and to go out and do something. It is long past time to just ask questions my friend. You are right indeed. Shake off the little voices that measure what you can do and what effect it will have and do it. It is far better to have the peace of mind that telling your grand kids you did something then to lie or say no when they inevitably ask you - someone they have high respect and regard for - and then feel the regrets you stayed comfortable, safe, and above all else entertained and deliberately made passive as we are trained - en mass - to be here in these United States. That is just some of my two cents on this issue, I hope that it helps. I know that you prompting me to articulate this and move my thought process along helps me, so your comment alone already made a small ripple in the placid service of reality. I am still active politically and plan to remain so until I die. I appreciate it when others get involved because it helps give me focus, direction and a better idea there I should focus myself. I am not doing tree-sits at the moment as we are in a high state of crisis in the United States and I am more interested in peace, social justice, and regime change in the United States. I have to chose my battles wisely, and that means doing so in a way that benefits others the most. I am terrified and well aware of a sense of horrifying helplessness what is happening brings. But to throw my hands up and say, "What's the use" is no option. I ain't built that way, for better or worse.
My tags say it all.
When did Serpico say this? I haven't heard about him in years.
In today's forum, we pay homage to revolutionary war hero, Paul Revere. I must confess that since the first time I heard myself referred to as a whistle-blower, I cringed, and I am still uneasy with that term. It sounds demeaning. Demeaning for so noble a cause. When Paul Revere was given the task of riding to Lexington to warn Sam Adams and John Hancock that the British troops were coming to arrest them, it is said that as he approached the house where they were staying the sentry asked him not to make so much noise, to which he cried "Noise?!? You'll have noise enough before long." After successfully warning the citizenry, he was himself arrested. Revere lit or arranged for the lamps to be lit and hung high in the tower. He was a lamp lighter and that is the term I much prefer than whistle-blower. LAMPLIGHTER. We can still holler and shout but we have to light the lamps that shed the light on corruption, injustice, ineptitude and abuse of power. When we do, you will see the villains scurry into the woodwork the way roaches do when you turn on the light. Some of you are fortunate enough never to have witnessed roaches and poverty. However, they do exist feeding off the crumbs of the poor. We may be told "don't make so much noise" and we can reply, "you'll soon hear noise enough before long," and we may be arrested as Revere was. When I was a plainclothes cop and first started to make waves, a desk Lieutenant said to me, "ok wise guy now you're under arrest." I threw my gun and shield on his desk and said, "Before you arrest me as a police officer, I quit. I'd rather eat out of garbage cans than work with the likes of you." While in my sick bed recovering from a gunshot wound, received in the line of duty under dubious circumstances, the police department harassed me hourly with bed checks. I was subjected to all sorts of humiliation. While traveling I was detained, strip searched and warned by Customs Agents, --"if we want you we got you" was their message. Somehow they knew of my supposedly secret meetings with top police investigators. Finally, after retiring, I was run out of Switzerland due to pressure brought to bear by none other than the FBI. A clear indication of the cooperation among government agencies to prevent the exposure of corruption in one of their crony organizations. I do not mean to discourage anyone but it is best to know what you may expect for your courage and forthrightness. Cornel West says it takes more courage to muster the exercise of critical intellect than to fight on the battlefield. On a more positive note I am pleased to report that I continue to receive dozens of e-mails from honest dedicated civil and federal employees, albeit complaining of similar corruption and retribution. One officer was shot in the chest by fellow officers. His bulletproof vest saved him; he was later accused of attempting suicide. Repeatedly, I am touched to hear from these men and women of courage telling me how they were inspired by my actions taken over 30 years ago. Recently here in Washington, DC at the National Association of Police Organization's Top Cop Awards Ceremony, an award recipient told me, that at age 8, his father took him to see the movie Serpico. At that early age he decided he was going to be a good cop someday. We must support and inspire each other. It is no small task we undertake. Government oversight is dealing with "the little big guys." I say little big guys, because I remember in my ordeal, confronting corruption in the NYPD, when the big shots were exposed they became like little babies or babbling idiots in front of the cameras. Today it is becoming harder to speak out, with the inception of the Patriot Act, the president has legislated free speech to be a crime. Frightfully reminiscent of the McCarran Act or Internal Security Act of 1950 which also involved our national safety and individual liberties. But being a man of conscience, President Truman vetoed the act on the grounds that it "would make a mockery of our Bill Of Rights and would actually weaken our internal security measures." His veto however was overturned and the rest is history. And unfortunately history repeats itself. It would behoove all of us to review those McCarthy hearings. One of it's victims was W.E.B. Dubois, the NAACP's Director of Research. He was indicted after calling upon the United Nations to hear the crimes of the U.S. government against it's own people. Hoover's FBI set up shop and conducted hearings for the next twenty seven years. One of the provisions of the McCarran Act, was its authorization of concentration camps for "emergency situations." Today, as always, it is clearly a case of ordinary citizens against the corporate giants like Enron, the Carlyle group and the so-called war on terrorism. Just last week John Poindexter, of Oli North and Iran contra guns for hostages fame was appointed to head the new 'big brother' Information Awareness Office. God help us. It reminds me of a verse in one of my favorite poems -- Crow's Theology, by Ted Hughes: Crow realized there were two Gods- One of them much bigger than the other Loving his enemies And having all the weapons But it took David just one well placed stone to take down the giant. On 9/11, the most powerful nation in the world, equipped with the most sophisticated spying technology available and a $396 billion defense budget was brought to its' knees by a handful of rouges with 99 cent box cutters. In my opinion, there is something very foul smelling about that. I believe that in time, the truth will come out. The mayor of New York, Time Magazine's man of the year, ordered thousands of tons of WTC steel sold and melted down before a proper investigation of the greatest crime scene the country has ever witnessed could be conducted. Much of it was sent to South Korea where Bush/Bin Laden's Carlyle Group has a massive investment. Something foul smelling about that too. In my opinion, an 85% approval rating only proves one thing. Einstein was correct when he said: "Two things are infinite, human stupidity and the universe, and I am not sure of the latter." In closing, my admiration and thanks to Uri Avnery, Israeli Journalist and decorated war hero and the hundreds of other courageous Israeli soldiers who are refusing to fight against unarmed Palestinian civilians and children, citing the Israeli occupation of Palestine as, "oppression in the extreme." Never has there been a greater need for Lamp Lighters than today. Never has there been a greater need for independent thinkers who are informed enough to know that most of our not so mainstream media is partisan, corporate owned and yielding to government pressure. We must hold our lawmakers accountable and our courts responsible, or democracy and freedom of speech in America will soon become extinct. Never have there been agencies better suited to investigate, expose, and seek to remedy systemic abuses of power, mismanagement, and subservience by the federal government to powerful special interests than POGO and its affiliates, our faithful watchdogs. Thank you. ---FRANK SERPICO HE SAID IT IN THIS SPEECH FEB 7, 2002
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition "Corporation: An entity created for the legal protection of its human parasites, whose sole purpose is profit and self-perpetuation." © IndieTx A hero will always be true.
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)
And we, as a people - the people of whom Abraham Lincoln said, "... you cannot fool all of the people all of the time" - have a right and duty to question the official story. Not to be simply ignored or derided and marginalized as "nuts" and "conspiracy theorists."
#2. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
And as he also noted, "... all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the world - no longer a government of free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men... ."
#3. To: bluedogtxn, christine (#2)
(Edited)
"F Mike, I'm almost to the point of thinking questions ain't gonna do it anymore. I feel like an unfortunate extra in a cheap southern remake of V for Vendetta or Orwell's 1984.
#4. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
Americans have a duty to question government
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
--Theodore Roosevelt
"Today it is becoming harder to speak out, with the inception of the Patriot Act, the president has legislated free speech to be a crime."
--Frank Serpico
#5. To: RedPanther (#4)
"Today it is becoming harder to speak out, with the inception of the Patriot Act, the president has legislated free speech to be a crime." --Frank Serpico
#6. To: Jethro Tull (#5)
Good morning and welcome to all of our speakers and guests. I am honored to be here today among such a courageous group of people of conscience. I feel I am finally with my peers and do not have to explain myself. I am particularly fond of the name POGO, not only for the great and necessary work this organization is doing but also because I once had a dog named Pogo. He was my loyal companion, and although quite small, warned me of intruders.
"There is no 'legitimate' Corporation by virtue of it's very legal definition and purpose."
-- IndieTx
#7. To: IndieTX (#6)
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